Tag Archives: fair use

Decentralized Domains: Metaverse Land Grab

Photo of Lisa Bollinger GehmanPhoto of Kevin WallacePhoto of Deborah A. WilcoxBy Lisa Bollinger Gehman, Kevin Wallace and Deborah A. Wilcox on Posted in Trademark
As the metaverse continues to become a more established marketplace, and consumers become more familiar with non-fungible tokens (NFTs), NFT marketplaces, decentralized domains, bitcoin, crypto wallets and the blockchain, it is no surprise that intellectual property (IP) owners are starting to see an increase in unauthorized uses of their trademarks and copyrights. There is a … Continue Reading

All’s Fair in Love and War . . . So What About Fair Use in the Time of Coronavirus?

Photo of Aaron RabinowitzBy Aaron Rabinowitz on Posted in Copyright
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools, colleges, universities, libraries and other institutions have closed and migrated their in-person classes and other offerings to an online model. But with the rapid migration of physical content to online platforms, questions have arisen regarding the application of copyright law to books and other texts that now are … Continue Reading

7th Circuit Upholds Trademark ‘Fair Use’ Doctrine

Photo of John MuellerBy John Mueller on Posted in Trademark
In an August 2019 decision, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the earlier finding by the Northern District of Illinois of summary judgment that PepsiCo’s Gatorade division’s use of the phrase “Gatorade The Sports Fuel Company” on its Gatorade family of products did not infringe SportFuel Inc.’s SPORTFUEL trademark because the use of … Continue Reading

Started From the Bottom, Now We’re Real: Drake’s Use of Jimmy Smith’s Commentary on ‘Real Music’ Considered Fair Use

Photo of Lauren AttardBy Lauren Attard on Posted in Copyright, Music Industry
On May 30, 2017, Judge William H. Pauley III, in the Southern District of New York, ruled that rapper-singer-songwriter Drake was permitted to use a sample of jazz artist Jimmy Smith based on the fair use doctrine, even though Drake and his record label did not license the publishing rights to the song. The court … Continue Reading

9/11 Photo Fair Use Case, North Jersey Media Group v. Fox News, Settles on First Day of Trial

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright, Fair Use, Social Media
Fox News and North Jersey Media Group have announced they have settled their copyright dispute over the use of the iconic photo taken in the aftermath of 9/11, “Raising the Flag at Ground Zero,” that was posted on Facebook by Fox News. And so it appears we will not get the jury’s guidance on the … Continue Reading

Artist Richard Prince Sued for Use of Photo from Instagram

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Uncategorized
It is not the first time artist Richard Prince has made headlines for appropriating others’ artwork into his own without attribution or license. But this time, he has done so in a way that may have implications on the use of photographs posted on social media. He is being sued on one of the 37 … Continue Reading

Artist Richard Prince Sued for Use of Photo from Instagram

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Copyright Protection, Fair Use, Social Media
It is not the first time artist Richard Prince has made headlines for appropriating others’ artwork into his own without attribution or license. But this time, he has done so in a way that may have implications on the use of photographs posted on social media. He is being sued on one of the 37 … Continue Reading

A New Lenz: Google Weighs In on Fair Use

By Regina Culbert on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Fair Use
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act creates a liability “safe harbor” for online service providers that post content that may be protected by copyright. It facilitates the takedown of an infringing work by providing a relatively simple “notice and takedown” procedure. However, the DMCA has been criticized for making it more difficult for individual creators to … Continue Reading

A New Lenz: Google Weighs In on Fair Use

By Regina Culbert on Posted in Uncategorized
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act creates a liability “safe harbor” for online service providers that post content that may be protected by copyright. It facilitates the takedown of an infringing work by providing a relatively simple “notice and takedown” procedure. However, the DMCA has been criticized for making it more difficult for individual creators to … Continue Reading

Fox News LLC v. TVEyes, Inc.—Does the Courts’ Expansion of Fair Use Copyright Protection Promote the “Progress of Science and useful Arts” When It Requires Increasing Judicial Oversight Over Activities That Otherwise Would Be Regulated By the Marketplace?

By Robert Welsh on Posted in Copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Fair Use
In 2014, when District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York upheld TVEyes, Inc.’s (“TVEyes”) monitoring service as “fair use” in the face of a copyright infringement claim brought by Fox New Network LLC (“Fox News”),[1] the decision was seen as yet another step in the federal courts’ limitations of the … Continue Reading

Fox News LLC v. TVEyes, Inc.—Does the Courts’ Expansion of Fair Use Copyright Protection Promote the “Progress of Science and useful Arts” When It Requires Increasing Judicial Oversight Over Activities That Otherwise Would Be Regulated By the Marketplace?

By Robert Welsh on Posted in Uncategorized
In 2014, when District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York upheld TVEyes, Inc.’s (“TVEyes”) monitoring service as “fair use” in the face of a copyright infringement claim brought by Fox New Network LLC (“Fox News”),[1] the decision was seen as yet another step in the federal courts’ limitations of the … Continue Reading

Second Circuit Finds That, Once Again, Book Scanning Is Fair Use

By Peter Shapiro on Posted in Copyright Infringement, Fair Use
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has delivered a resounding reaffirmation of fair use principles in the latest decision to go against the Authors Guild in its longstanding battle against book digitization.  The unanimous opinion of the three-judge panel in Authors Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust, No. 12-4547-cv (2d Cir. June 10, 2014) affirmed nearly all … Continue Reading

GoldieBlox and the Three Beastie Boys

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright
It was the ad video gone viral of three young girls proudly showing off their elaborate Rube Goldberg machine made of repurposed pink toys.  They sang “it’s time to change, we deserve to see a range” and called for girls “to code the new apps” and “to grow up knowing that they can engineer that.” … Continue Reading

GoldieBlox and the Three Beastie Boys

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright Infringement, Fair Use
It was the ad video gone viral of three young girls proudly showing off their elaborate Rube Goldberg machine made of repurposed pink toys.  They sang “it’s time to change, we deserve to see a range” and called for girls “to code the new apps” and “to grow up knowing that they can engineer that.” … Continue Reading

Google Prevails in the Latest Chapter of the Google Books Litigation

By Maryanne Stanganelli and Elizabeth Stamoulis on Posted in Copyright Infringement, Fair Use
On November 15, Judge Chin of the Southern District of New York issued a long-awaited decision  in the Google Books case, Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google Inc.  Google Books—the project through which Google provides access to over twenty million books to the public—obtained some of its books from libraries without permission from the copyright owners.  … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Declines Opportunity to Review Test for Copyright Fair Use

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright Infringement, Fair Use
After the Second Circuit ruling in Cariou v. Prince, which we wrote about on this blog here, photographer Patrick Cariou felt that the decision was too subjective, calling it an “I know it when I see it” approach for determining when a work is transformative—or, in other words, when a work that appropriates copyright material … Continue Reading

Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Uncategorized
Authored by:  Fernando A. Bohorquez and Alan M. Pate Available here, courtesy of our sister site the Data Privacy Monitor. Editor’s Note: This blog post was originally published on September 11, 2013, courtesy of iMedia Connection’s Blog. It is repurposed with permission.… Continue Reading

Appropriation Art Alive and Well after Second Circuit Ruling in Cariou v. Prince

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright Infringement, Fair Use
Today, the Second Circuit handed down its much anticipated decision in Cariou v. Prince regarding the legality of appropriation art by artist Richard Prince. Just over two years ago, in federal district court in New York, Judge Batts ordered that paintings by Richard Prince be destroyed.  She did so on the basis that the art, … Continue Reading
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